A SOLDIER and His Shadow
by wesst1
Summary: Shinra had a nasty habit of creating it's own enemies, sometimes quite literally. A hero on the verge of death is saved only to have his former employer try to turn him into their ultimate weapon. All he remembers is that he wasn't always this way and with the help of friends old and new and the love of a special woman he will get back what Shinra took. All hail Shadow.


Chapter 1: Bow Your Heads Low

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><p><strong>Hello one and all, wesst1 here. I've had this idea rolling around in my head for a while and I think you'll all enjoy it.<strong>

**There have been a number of FFVII AU fics out there, a good number of which are Zack survival stories. Now by this point I'm sure some of you are groaning and/or saying "Not another one," but I think this will be different enough for you to enjoy it. **

**I do not own the Final Fantasy franchise or, and this won't be important until later, the character or the basic idea behind Shadow the Hedgehog. Now that I've pretty much given everything away, let's get started.**

**One last thing, it's been a while since I've played FFVII and Crisis Core so it is more than likely that I'll go off script, but then again since it is AU that shouldn't matter too much anyway.**

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><p>In a wasteland outside of the imposing city of Midgar, a lone man was fighting the battle of his life. An entire army had been dispatched to eliminate him and his friend, and he had stepped right into their trap. Whether it was to steady his nerves or a prayer for a miracle the man touched his forehead to the hilt of his sword and said, "Embrace your dreams and defend your honor as SOLDIER."<p>

The man had black spikey hair, a muscular build, glowing bluish-violet eyes, and an X-shaped scar on his left cheek. His only weapon was a broadsword, five to six feet and length with a single-edged large blade that was approximately one foot wide. This man was named Zack Fair, a SOLDIER, First-Class.

His friend was a blonde man named Cloud Strife. He too had spikey hair although it was blonde, a slightly leaner build, and glowing eyes. He was suffering from what was known as mako poisoning, an illness that affected those who were exposed to the liquid form of the Planet's Lifestream, the Planet's life force. Semi-conscious and incoherent he could only watch as his best friend mowed down their enemies in an attempt to gain their freedom.

Their enemy was an army sent by the Shinra Electric Power Company, their former employer. When one becomes a Shinra employee they become Shinra property, and Shinra is not interested in what its property wants. Former Shinra employees are either monitored until the day they die or are killed in order to protect the company's dark secrets and these two were privy to some of the darkest secrets of the Shinra Company.

_I have to win. I have to live. Cloud is in no condition to be on his own and I have 23 wishes to grant, or one big wish now I guess, _Zack thought as he mowed down Shinra troopers. "Gah!" he grunted as a bullet went into his leg. This battle was clearly demonstrating the difference between SOLDIERs and the Shinra Army, the difference in their power was the difference between heaven and earth. Even bloody and bullet-ridden a First-Class SOLDIER was still more than a match for an army of normal humans. As wave after wave of troopers met the end of the Buster Sword victory seemed to be well within reach. However, even a SOLDIER has his limits and Zack soon grew tired due to battle and blood loss. A barrage of bullets from the last three troopers hit their mark and the impact left Zack on his back in an expanding pool of his own blood.

"That takes care of that," one of the men said.

"What about the blonde one?" a second asked.

"Leave him, he'll be dead soon enough. Now let's go it looks like it's gonna rain" the commander ordered, as he left ahead of the others.

"Sir!" the other two said as they quickly followed.

As soon as the three left the heavens opened, almost as if the Planet itself was mourning what appeared to be the end of a brave and heroic man. _Ugh, of course it has to start raining when I'm about to die, _Zack thought. Sensing movement he turned and saw Cloud crawling towards him.

"Zack?" Cloud asked in an almost childlike manner. Perhaps he believed this to be a hallucination or a dream; he could not believe that his best friend would die in such a way.

"For the both of us," Zack said.

"What?" Cloud asked.

"You're gonna live…for the both of us," Zack said. Continuing he said, "My honor…my dreams… they're yours now. You're my living legacy," Zack said.

"I'm your legacy," Cloud repeated.

"Cloud, you better get out of here," Zack said as he passed Cloud the Buster Sword.

"Zack I…" Cloud started.

"Cloud, you've been through enough you shouldn't have to watch me die too," Zack said.

"I'm sorry Zack," was all Cloud said as he took off towards Midgar, and it may have just been the rain but Zack swore he saw tears.

As soon as Cloud left the sky started to clear up and Zack saw a familiar figure. It was a man with straight black hair, a SOLDIER uniform, and white wings; it was Zack's mentor Angeal Hewley.

"Hey Angeal," Zack started.

"Yes Zack?" Angeal asked.

"I know I just made peace with my situation but I still want to live, I still want to fight," Zack told his former mentor.

"Death may be kinder to you Zack," Angeal told him.

"Maybe you're right but I have things I want to do and promises to keep," Zack told him.

"I believe you told your friend to take care of that," Angeal reminded him.

"I had no right to force that on him, I realized it as soon as I said it," Zack said.

"Yeah I know a few things about that," Angeal said remembering the events of Modeoheim. Angeal asked one last question, "Even if what lies ahead may be more difficult that anything you have faced thus far, do you still want to live?"

"If what lies ahead is hard, I'll face it like a SOLDIER. My mind is made up, I WANT TO LIVE!" Zack answered.

"Well then Mr. Fair, consider your wish granted," A haughty voice on his right said.

"Hojo," Zack said as he recognized the voice. It was indeed the head of Shinra's Science Department, Professor Hojo. He was an older man with dark hair and a ponytail in a lab coat and glasses. This man was mostly to blame for Zack's current situation, as he had been experimenting on Zack and Cloud for the past four years.

"Don't worry my boy, I won't let you die, I believe that you are going to do great things in the future," Hojo said as he shot Zack with a tranquilizer.

"Professor the blood packs are ready in the chopper," someone who appeared to be a medic said.

"Good, patch him up and keep him sedated," Hojo ordered.

"Sir!" the medic said as a team came to collect the unconscious SOLDIER.

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><p><em>A few months later<em>

President Shinra was a short stout man with thinning blond hair and mustache, wearing a burgundy suit, white shirt, red tie, and a cigar. This evening he was pacing back and forth in his office in front of his company's executives and scientists and he had a very pressing question.

"How long until this joint project of yours is ready?" he asked.

"Sir, the genetic samples have been spliced into our subject and the inhibitors in working order," a scientist reported.

"It has been shown that the subject can command mako energy and can even gather power from the air around him," another Scientist added.

"His strength and speed surpass even Sephiroth's, Sir, and with the equipment we are giving him he should be able to reach Mach 2 on foot," a blonde woman said. This was Scarlet, the Head of Weapons Development at Shinra Inc.

"His durability is amazing and he's shown that he can survive in any condition," a large man in a green suit with dark hair and a bushy beard chimed in. This was Heidegger the Head of Public Safety, or to put it more accurately the Head of Shinra's military as well as Shinra's intelligence agents, the Turks.

"It would have been done sooner were you not so insistent that he retain his human form," Hojo stated.

"Shadow must be able to move about undetected among the populace. I want the ultimate living weapon and I want it to look human!" President Shinra yelled.

"Well Sir, that part slowed us down but it has been taken care of. The real issue is his memory," the first scientist spoke up.

"His memory?" President Shinra asked.

"After every test he asks us who he was, apparently he is aware that he wasn't always this way. We fear that he may try to run if he doesn't get answers soon," the second scientist explained.

"Let him ask all the questions he wants, where else will he go? Who but us can give him those answers? It isn't as though he knows who else to ask," President Shinra said.

"But Sir, what if his memories come back on their own?" the first scientist asked.

"You made plans for if he went rogue right?" President Shinra asked.

"Yes sir," the man replied.

"Then hurry up and put him to work, without Sephiroth, Angeal, or Genesis anti-Shinra groups have been getting more daring. Even if they aren't a threat, they're still pissing me off," President Shinra told them, effectively ending the meeting.

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><p>As everyone left the office, Hojo, Scarlet, and Heidegger made their way to Hojo's lab to check on the status of their joint project. As soon as they entered they approached a capsule filled with mako.<p>

"So, how much longer until he's ready?" Heidegger asked.

"He can be ready next week once Palmer get me my materials. I still can't believe I'm stuck making shoes for President Shinra's new pet," Scarlet said.

"Those parts are with your top engineers right now, Scarlet," a new voice said. This was Palmer, the Head of Shinra's failed space program. He was a short, overweight man with grey hair. He was not present at the meeting because it was well known that he was an incompetent man and President Shinra's patience was wearing thin.

"He'll be ready by next week then," Scarlet said.

"Good, good," Hojo said to himself and what was in the capsule. _I told you my boy, you're going to do great things, _the Chief Scientist thought.

Inside the capsule was a man had black spikey hair, a muscular build, and an X-shaped scar on his left cheek.

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><p><strong>Okay, I know this was short but with my fics the first chapter is always short, never really figured out why though. I hope this was enough to get you interested in the story I've envisioned. I'll try to update when I can but I like to alternate between stories so if you like what you've read so far I hope you don't mind waiting. I'm only sorry that I have to make you wait.<strong>

**Read and review, and no flames please.**


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